The mansion became extremely busy after receiving the bad news from Makio. They never expected that after just a few days of marriage, something as bizarre as Hou Wei Yan getting taken advantage of would explode. The Maids were only given instructions but not details of the matter and were given strict orders not to ask more. Only those that serve directly from the Ji Li Zhao such as Butler Gu, Ye Zhe, and those part of Palisades knew of this event.
"They're here!" Ye Zhe frantically said, ready for the storm about to happen in their mansion.
Ji Li Zhao immediately came down after a few seconds and his face displayed great displeasure and worry. He wasn't only worried for his wife like last time, but extremely angry that someone actually had the audacity to commit such a hideous plan. "Where is he?"
Gu Man who was behind him already knew who he was referring to. "Doctor Mao is already in your chamber preparing"
He no longer delayed and walked faster than ever with Hou Wei Yan tightly secured in his arms. Her breathing became unbalanced. She was obviously suffocated. It might be because of the drug she had taken or the clothe she had worn which were a bit tight. Nonetheless, he needs to free her of such suffocation and he needs to do it fast.
Time is of the essence.
As he entered their chamber, he was instantly greeted by his doctor. He hadn't seen him for a while now as he had taken great care of his health and went to Hou Wei Yan for his monthly checkup. Mao who had just been informed about the existence of Mrs. Ji was flustered when he saw who she was. He wasn't part of the organization and rarely even cares about anything related to the Regal Families. But he knew who she was.
She was the daughter of Princess Xing! He knew after getting associated with one of the Xing Grandchildren and getting bombarded with her pictures almost every single day. He can't be wrong!
"She's ---"
"Fang already told you the details. Get out of here first, she needs to get changed" he said with authority as he gently placed her down on the bed, his sweat building up as he saw how hard it was for her to breathe.
Noticing the worried state their boss was under and the deadly air around him, Ye Zhe pulled the starstruck doctor out of the room followed by Gu Man's deadly stares at the others. Everyone immediately left the room and allowed their boss to do his thing.
Meanwhile, Mao Chen looked at the people around him in horror. "Isn't she Hou Wei Yan? The daughter of Xing Mei Yi?"
Ye Zhe looked at him with amusement. "I'm quite surprised you know"
Even though he already had a hunch, for him to confirm it like it was nothing made him surprised once more. "She's Mrs. Ji?"
"She is. After returning to the country, Young Master and her got married" he casually said.
"But the two families are fighting for power right? Did they decide to join as one and rule over the other Royalties?" he inquired making Ye Zhe sigh.
The Regal Families or mostly known as the Royalties are composed of 12 households at the current time. Only those with great influence in the business, politics, and the military can enter these rankings. But entering it is quite difficult as one must first prove just how powerful they are. The 12 current Regal Families are composed of household with international influence and has been in the rankings since old time. They have the influence to change the economic footing of the nation when they want to, which is why they are well known to be people even the President can't easily offend.
The two ruling households of the Royal Families are the Xing and the Ji. Since the Xing had long established their influence in the country as well as their growing power internationally, they had taken in the first spot. But they had been suppressed by the Jis on certain occasions. The Jis had been upholding number two, but with Ji Li Zhao leading the family business and his backing with the military family Bei, they suddenly leveled up their game and actually became quite threatening to the Xing's spot. As such, they had battled countless times to prove who was powerful enough to take the first spot.
But if they had allowed the two to get married, does that mean they had given up such power strife and compromised to a political marriage? But why was it not announced? This here is a big thing for the country.
"Is this approved by their families? The Xing and the Jis are known to be enemies" he asked all of a sudden after much thinking.
It's impossible for this not to take up the headlines. Aside from that, he had recently heard from Hou Wei Yan's cousin that their family will be launching their new automobile to surpass the latest one the Jis had released. This means that their battle is still ongoing. And yet they are telling him they got married?
"Even if they are enemies, they have no say on this. They can continue their fight, and master will continue pampering his wife" he replied to his silly question.
What enemies? As long as their emperor loves her, the family rivalry won't matter anymore. The Xing and Ji are indeed rivals but it's not enough to stop him from taking her in as his wife. It doesn't matter even if they are like Romeo and Juliet, he will give it his everything to have her by his side. Besides, even if they oppose the marriage, he can always run away with her.
Ye Zhe then looked at Mao Chen with a smile after having such thoughts. No. A chance of running away won't even happen in this marriage. Their Emperor only needed one thing to make the Xing's leave their marriage alone, and he had already acquired it not too long ago.
Everything drastically changes, since he had already tamed the wild beast of the Xing. He already had Princess Xing's approval.
"Get inside" a cold voice suddenly said all of a sudden which broke their silence. Ji Li Zhao had opened up the door and was already standing with worry decorating his face. "She's still not breathing fine"
The doctor suddenly felt stuck to the ground, unable to move. He had been serving Ji Li Zhao for a year since he came back to the country and took over Tianshi, but he had never seen him this worried nor afraid. He had always looked so cold and cool like he knows everything and calculates things with precision to use them to his advantage. But right now, he looked nothing like the feared emperor.
"What are you waiting for? My wife is in danger!" he said with a colder voice than before. Mao Chen immediately ran inside to check on Hou Wei Yan. He saw the redness in her face and how her breathing fastened.
He immediately looked at the oxygen tank they had prepared beforehand and placed the mask on her. He injected the IV on her and slowly examined her temperature. Seeing that the redness of her skin wasn't subsiding, Mao Chen suspected it was no ordinary sleeping pills that she had intake. He continued examining Hou Wei Yan with Ji Li Zhao beside him, his gaze bearing the clear statement that if he does not do well he's dead.
After a while, Hou Wei Yan slowly regained her normal breathing rate which made him sigh in relief.
"She'll be fine now" he said when he placed the stethoscope on her. "But she will most probably not wake up till tomorrow evening"
Ji Li Zhao looked at his wife and waited for him to continue his analysis without speaking. "I'm not yet truly associated with this drug, but it's the type with strong ability to place its victim to really deep sleep. The amount Mrs. Ji had taken is enough to make her sleep for a day or two...further exposure to it could have caused her to be comatose. Not only that, rashes had appeared on her body which means that it also contains a high concentration of alcohol enough to wake her dormant allergy towards it"
His hands clenched as he heard this from Doctor Mao. [ Those filthy rats! ]
"Based on your findings, this must have been the caused of the ongoing missing ladies around and the dead-raped bodies found recently" he deduced. His men had already been dispatched to monitor the case, he just didn't expect that the delay in the investigation would lead to his wife encountering the perpetrators.
"But how did this happen? If the bartender placed it on her drink, wouldn't Makio notice? A pill would take at least a minute to dissolve" he inquired which was instantly replied by Ye Zhe.
"It's the ice. Makio had sent us the footage he got, and everything he mixed was normal except the ice. We suspect the pills were already dissolved and turned into the ice to avoid suspicion from anyone, including the target. The drug must be the type that is more effective after melting. As it slowly melts the dosage increases"
Mao Chen who had only suggested the possibility can't help but look at Hou Wei Yan who had fallen victim to such crafty criminals. She's blessed to have been saved, but if this continues on, more women will fall victim to their crime and no one would easily pinpoint it at them considering how they had avoided conviction despite it happening for a while now.
"Ye Zhe, I want that bar destroyed. Fasten up the investigation of the case, gather all the evidence you can get to make those men rot in prison" Ji Li Zhao suddenly ordered which Ye Zhe immediately accepted. "But leave the leader and his most trusted men for our organization. Sending him to prison would only be heaven after he did such a thing to many women. Gather the Five Punishments and let them handle his herd...with their utmost hospitality"
The doctor cannot help but take a glance at Ji Li Zhao who now sat at the bed, caressing his beloved wife. "Women are to be treasured, not harassed" he mumbled as he kissed Hou Wei Yan's forehead with gentleness.
He had been blessed to meet an angel like Hou Wei Yan. Any act of abuse towards women makes him angry because he can remember her and the mother who had taken care of him.